I’d had a bit of time to think about this evenings game against Manchester City and I’m more annoyed than anything else with the defeat – mainly because every Gooner could see it coming from a mile away.

You knew it was going to happen!

Arsenal dominated the first half, wasting 5 or 6 great opportunities – with the less than sharp Thierry the main culprit.

And just like against Aston Villa and Dynamo Zagreb, Arsenal didn’t have the cutting edge and once again were scared to shoot on goal!

Arsenal had most of the ball in the second half but Man City keeper Nicky Weaver didn’t have a save to make!

What the hell is wrong with Arsenal – does Wenger dish out punishments if our players shoot outside the area?

And the worst thing was Manchester City weren’t even that physical. I dread to think what the hell is going to happen once we play teams like Everton, Bolton and Manchester United.

When a team dominates the game so much and doesn’t take their chances the opposition will ALWAYS get a chance to nick a goal.

ALWAYS.

And so it proved on the 41st minute.

A long diagonal ball played to Trevor Sinclair caused all the problems, and the inexperienced Justin Hoyte watched the ball but didn’t know where the player was.

And he succeeded in hacking down Sinclair for a penalty kick.

It was obvious Joey Barton was going to score – it was virtually their first chance of the entire game!

How many times in the past have Arsenal been left ruing missed chances?

Far too many times!

And the second half was the same old story – plenty of attacking possession but no desire to shoot and test the keeper.

The only player willing to shoot on goal in the second period was Robin Van Persie!

You may think I am over-reacting but unless something happens then we’re in for a very, very tough season.

Arsenal have only one way of playing and if teams play deep and with 8/9 men behind the ball they know Arsenal will not get through.

And can you blame them?

Days like today have happened far to often and Arsenal have to learn to score a scruffy goal!

Arsenal play a quick, slick passing game and without a player who can actually head the ball teams will play the same way against us. Too many times the ball is wide and instead of crossing it we play the ball inside and face a brick wall of defenders.

With players like Bergkamp, Pires, Vieira and Freddie at their peak this way of playing wasn’t a problem – we could keep chipping away and you knew we would eventually score.

But with the current personell Arsenal have to play differently but there are no signs of this happening. We are not the same team we were 2 seasons ago and the question is can Arsenal change the way they play?

We’ll have to wait and see…

Arsenal Win At The Emirates!

A good night all round for Arsenal in Europe and in The Premiership.

The Gunners beat Dynamo Zagreb 2-1 last night and won the tie 5-1 on aggregate – although it was Dynamo who took the lead through de Silva on 12 minutes.

Arsenal are going to take a few games to settle at their new home and we haven’t lost there yet which is the most important thing.

It was an average performance from Arsenal and nothing more really. Robin Van Persie in particular stood out as he displayed his impressive skills and a brilliant pirouette on 26 minutes created a chance from an acute angle which was saved by Dynamo keeper Carlos Santos de Jesus (what a name!).

And only a minute earlier van Persie was denied a goal when his shot was amazingly deflected by Cvitanovic onto the bar and over the goal! Crazy stuff!

But with 13 minutes remaining, Freddie latched onto a Van Persie freekick to head Arsenal the equaliser. And then on 90, Mathieu Flamini who looked like a left back playing in central midfield, grabbed the winner to give Arsenal their first competitive win at the Emirates.

I didn’t know any of The Premiership scores until I watched Match of the Day last night – and was I shocked!

Chelski were winning 1-0 with only 10 minutes to go when Boro came back and scored a couple of goals to give the Russians their first defeat of the season.

Alan Hansen made a good point about how Chelski looked particularly vulnerable from crosses as that’s how Boro managed to scored their goals. Chelski would probably look more solid with William Gallas instead of Ricardo Carvalho at the back wouldn’t they?

Apparently Jose Mourinho was absolutely livid last night. Good news all round then!

Manchester United looked impressive yet again with an easy 3-0 win over Charlton. From the highlights Scott Carson made some good saves and United hit the woodwork at least 5 times so the scoreline could have been much worst for the home team.

Hopefully The Premiership race will be a bit closer this season!